Corrected on August 22, 2026. This report originally said six people were killed in the explosion. Police and several outlets put the blast toll at four killed and three injured; two further bodies were found shot dead in the same area, a separate act. The original figure of six conflated the two. The corrected account follows.
Four labourers were killed and three injured by an explosion at an orchard in the Khad Kocha area of Balochistan’s Mastung district, and two other people were found shot dead in the same area (Aaj News; Geo News).
Deputy Superintendent of Police Rafiq Hamza said the blast took place at an orchard. Police said the bodies were moved to Ghaus Bakhsh Raisani Hospital, law enforcement personnel cordoned off the site, and a bomb disposal unit was called to determine the nature of the explosion.
What is disputed
The toll has been reported inconsistently. Geo News, Minute Mirror and Islamabad Post reported six killed and three injured in the explosion itself. Aaj News and Pakistan Today reported four killed and three injured by the blast, with two others found shot dead separately in the same area.
The second account reconciles the arithmetic, and this newspaper has adopted it while noting the conflict. The identities of those killed have not been released beyond their being described as labourers.
The cause is not established
Rescue sources described the incident as a suspected drone attack. Police said they had not confirmed a drone attack and that an explosion had occurred at the site. No group has claimed responsibility, and the bomb disposal unit’s finding has not been reported.
The blast is reported to have occurred late on Thursday night, in an apple orchard in the mountainous Khad Kocha sub-tehsil, around 22 kilometres from Mastung city.
The pattern
The incident comes days after two people were killed and two injured by a roadside device at Wali Tangi in the Hanna Urak recreational area of Quetta. Security forces have been conducting intelligence-based operations in Balochistan under Operation Radd-ul-Fitna 3, and the military said on Friday that 49 militants had been killed in recent operations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
A report by the Centre for Research and Security Studies found that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan together accounted for nearly 96 per cent of all violence-related fatalities in the second quarter of 2026 — more than 61 per cent (475 deaths) in KP and 34 per cent (265) in Balochistan.
